sub io
{
# usage:
# @array  = io('read',$file)
# $string = io('read',$file)
# io('write',$file,$string)
# io('write',$file,\@array)
# io('write',$file,$ref,'name')

my($bit,$file,$data) = @_;

if($bit eq 'read'){
    open IO,"< $file" or die "Cannot open $file for input: $!\n";
    my@file = <IO>;
    close IO;
    wantarray ? return @file : return join '', @file;
    }
if($bit eq 'write'){
    open  IO,"> $file" or die "Cannot open $file for output: $!\n";
    print IO $data unless ref $data || $name;
    print IO @$data if ref $data eq 'ARRAY';
#   print IO Data::Dumper->new([$data],[$name])->Indent(2)->Quotekeys(0)->Dump if $name;
    close IO;
    }
}